Targeted at fast growing low-cost smartphone markets like India, Nokia on Monday launched the much anticipated Android-based smartphones starting at euro 89 (about Rs 7,600).
The company introduced three smartphones, based on a modified version of the Android, called Android open source project (AOSP), for the X series. "The X range of phones is targeted at the growth markets where low-cost smartphones are growing at over four times," Nokia's Devices and Services Executive Vice President Stephen Elop told reporters here.
Nokia's X range of smartphones run Android applications, Microsoft services and signature Nokia experiences like Here maps. The X model will be available immediately for euro 89 excluding taxes. The other two models - X+ and Xl - will be available in early second quarter for euro 99 and euro 109 respectively, Elop added. Nokia X comes with a 4 inch screen and 3MP camera whereas Xl has a 5 inch screen and 5 MP camera.
It is for the first time that Nokia has come out with a phone which has Android-based applications. This is a move by the company in order to get a pie of the Android phone market. As per the IDC figures of the last quarter of 2013, Android had a 78.1 per cent share of global smartphone shipments while the Microsoft Windows Phone platform share stood at 3 per cent.